WE Fest kicks-off with record crowds for Morgan Wallen

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Last night, it was Morgan Wallen.

The country music star headlined the first day of WE Fest in Detroit Lakes on Thursday night to one of the largest crowds the festival has seen in recent years.

Fans smile for a group photo near the WE Fest main stage on Aug. 3, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

Kara Kleveland, of Fargo, said she has been 20 WE Fests throughout her life because there is just something about the music, the people and the beer all together.

“I got my pregnant step-daughter in the back row here who couldn’t miss today,” said Kleveland. “We brought them to their first WE Fest five years ago and they’ve been coming every year since with us … it’s something that you pass on to your family and friends, for sure.”

Wallen played his hits, including “Last Night,” “Up, Down,” and “More Than My Hometown,” to the crowd that responded by singing his own words right back to him at the top of their lungs.

Friends smile for a group photo at the WE Fest 40th Birthday Bash on Aug. 2, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

Tonight, Travis Tritt, the Brothers Osborne and headliner Brad Paisley will get their chance to entertain some of country music’s most dedicated fans. And then on Saturday, Blackberry Smoke, Gabby Barrett and headliner Kane Brown will close out the festival.

However, before the country music officially started, WE Fest held its 40th Birthday Bash Wednesday, which featured a performance and dance party by the DJ trio Cheat Codes who seemed to have no problem getting the early-arrivers to the festival to raise their hands up and jump around at the Barn Stage.

Mark Bjerke, general manager for WE Fest, said 40 years is a long time keep a festival running and with the owners of the Soo Pass Ranch taking the reins of the operations in 2021, it’s finally starting to feel like a big family again.

Cheat Codes perform on the Barn Stage at the WE Fest 40th Birthday Bash on Aug. 2, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

A group smiles for a group photo in front a giant birthday cake at the WE Fest 40th Birthday Bash on Aug. 2, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

“It’s an amazing place,” said Bjerke. “It’s like a family reunion for people. There’s people who have been coming here for five, ten years, a lot of new people. We’re back with new ownership and new management, really with a local focus, and with the great lineup with have here, we kind of feel like we’re back.”

He also said they believe the total number of country music fans through the turnstiles could be double what the festival did last year, but they will have to wait until Saturday to see the final numbers.

Fans enjoy a DJ near a giant birthday cake at the WE Fest 40th Birthday Bash on Aug. 2, 2023. (Michael Achterling / KDLM News)

“We’ve got a thousand plus employees and we’re double, almost, what we did last year,” he said. “And just scaling that, everything is kind of doubled, but also when you do that, you double the challenges too.”

Bjerke said their ownership group upgraded the Main Stage at the Soo Pass Ranch last year; the backstage Prancing Pony this year; and they have their eyes on additional maintenance and upgrade projects going forward as they prepare for the next 40 years in Becker County, just south of Detroit Lakes.